As RMT Program Coordinator at Western Community College and a practicing Registered Massage Therapist since 2003, Randi Eckersley has a front-row seat to how much the profession has evolved, and how much prospective students still misunderstand about it. We spoke with Randi about what the profession actually demands today, how WCC’s program is structured to prepare students for that reality, and what prospective students should understand before they enroll.
About Randi Eckersley
Randi came to British Columbia to study at UBC, where she completed a Bachelor of Science with plans to attend medical school. After not getting in on her first attempt, a gift-certificate massage from a newly graduated RMT introduced her to the field almost by chance. She enrolled in a massage therapy program that same year, graduated in 2003, and passed her boards the same year, putting her at 23 years of clinical experience today. She now coordinates WCC’s RMT program, applying her own experience as a working therapist directly to how the curriculum is built and taught.
Massage Therapy Has Become a Clinical, Evidence-Based Profession
One of the biggest shifts Randi has seen over her career is how far the profession has moved away from its old reputation. “It’s really started to become a lot more medical, a lot more evidence-based practice,” she says. Consent, which used to be treated casually (with something like “Hey, I’m gonna massage your back, is that good?”), is now a formal, predominant part of practice. The looser style she describes from the early 2000s, therapists working barefoot in a purely relaxation-focused setting, has given way to something far more structured.
Today’s RMTs build treatment plans and follow them, using techniques that are supported by evidence rather than tradition. Therapeutic exercise has also become a standard part of the toolkit: active rehabilitation work that complements hands-on treatment to improve patient outcomes. For prospective students, the takeaway is straightforward: this is healthcare work, not spa work, and the field is only becoming more clinically rigorous over time.
Inside WCC’s RMT Curriculum
As Program Coordinator, Randi points to one thing that sets WCC’s program apart from others: who designs it. “We have a curriculum that’s designed by massage therapists,” she explains, not by education consultants who build curricula professionally, but by someone who has taught in the field and has firsthand knowledge of where students tend to struggle.
That shows up most clearly in how the program sequences difficult material. Rather than teaching musculoskeletal anatomy and anatomy and physiology at the same time, WCC separates them, so students master one challenge before taking on the next instead of being overwhelmed by several demanding subjects simultaneously. Randi describes it as a ladder approach: course material organized in a sequence that reflects what an RMT actually needs to know for practice, rather than a structure borrowed from medical or physiotherapy training.
The program is also built around student support. WCC offers resources Randi says many other schools don’t provide, with an ongoing openness to add more where students need it. Instructors have been given the latitude to step in directly when a student needs help, backed by a dedicated student services team, a structure Randi describes simply as student-centered.
What Prospective Students Get Wrong
Randi’s advice to anyone considering the program starts before they even apply: try a massage from a Registered Massage Therapist first. “Most of them will be more than willing to talk to you about it, and what they like and dislike about it,” she says. It’s a step many incoming students skip, and skipping it can lead to a difficult adjustment once classes start.
“If you come into this thinking that you’re just gonna learn a little bit about the body so you can do relaxation massages, you’re gonna be in for a rude awakening,” Randi says. The program is heavy in muscles, anatomy, and pathology — the mechanics of how the body works, and students who arrive without that context often struggle to see the relevance of first-semester coursework until it clicks later on.
Career Flexibility After Graduation
For students weighing this program against other career paths, Randi highlights something not typically associated with healthcare work: control over your own schedule. “We are self-employed for the most part as RMTs,” she says. “We get to set our schedule, and that can have pros and cons.”
That flexibility extends to who you work with and where. RMTs can shape a practice around the patients they find most engaging, choosing their preferred injuries and demographics rather than defaulting to a fixed roster. It’s also not a career confined to the Lower Mainland or major cities: RMTs trained in BC can practice anywhere in Canada, since the province is regulated. Local bylaws around home-based or mobile massage vary by city, so relocating requires some homework, but the credential itself travels.
A Unique Position in Healthcare
Randi closes on why she has stayed in the field for more than two decades: the amount of time RMTs get with each patient. “We’re in a very unique position in the healthcare field, that we get to see our patients for the longest that any practitioner gets to see them,” she says. “We get to see somebody for a whole entire hour.”
It’s a detail that captures what she wants prospective students to understand about the profession before they commit to it: this is patient-centered, hands-on healthcare work that rewards therapists willing to build real clinical depth, not a shortcut into a relaxed, low-stakes career.
Western Community College’s RMT program is coordinated by Randi Eckersley, a practicing Registered Massage Therapist with more than two decades of clinical experience. To learn more about our Registered Massage Therapy program, visit wcc.ca.
